2023

Foreword Jeffery D. Long I Preface Saptarshi Mallick III Introduction John Brockington IX Section I Authorship, Genre and Title 1. ?u?draka and the History of Sanskrit Literature: Authorship, Date and M?cchaka?ikam Nandini Bhowmik 1 2. ‘What is in a name?’: Exploring the Dynamics of M?cchaka?ikam or A Clay Cart. Debjyoti Bhattacharya 17 3. Genre and Gender: A Reading of M?cchaka?ikam Nilanjana Bhattacharya 26 4. Analytical Aspect and Appraisement of M?cchaka?ikam as a Prakara?a Manoj Kumar Barman 42 5. Intertwining Language and Imagery: Exploring M?cchaka?ikam Saroja Ganapathy 52 6. Onto-cartographies of Text/ Archive: Re(en)folding History, Identity and Bio-power in ??draka’s M?cchaka?ikam Abhisek Ghosal 68 Section II The Enthusiasm of M?cchaka?ikam 7. The Art of Characterization in ??draka’s M?cchaka?ikam Sandip Biswas 85 8. Vasantasen?: The Marginalized Center Zinia Mitra 96 9. Vasantasen?: Subverting Stereotypes in M?cchaka?ikam? Naina Dey 110 10. Ch?rudatta: Sudraka’s Dh?rapra??nta Hero Arnab Chatterjee 120 11. Role of Vid??aka and Treatment of Humour in M?cchaka?ikam Devalina Saikia and Paritosh Das 131 12. A Profile of Secondary Women Characters: A Study through M?cchaka?ikam Supriya Banik Pal 146 13. Villainy in M?cchaka?ikam: ?ak?ra Swati S. Dravid 170 14. To Feel or to Follow?: Reading Emotions in M?cchaka?ikam Krishnendu Pal 186 Section III An Assimilation of Religion, Human Relations, Passion, Politics and Revolution 15. Revisiting ??draka’s M?cchaka?ikam against the Backdrop of Political Upsurge and Social Upheaval. Tapati Mukherjee 201 16. Drivers of The Little Clay Cart – Then and Now: Human Agency and Social Change in the M?cchaka?ikam and its Political Relevance in Contemporary India Anway Mukhopadhyay 215 17. The Operation of “Art of Living” in Drama: ??draka’s M?cchaka?ikam and Beyond Jolly Das 231 18. The Relish of Transgression: ?r?gara in ??draka’s M?cchaka?ikam or The Clay Toy-Cart Partha Sarathi Gupta 246 19. Rethinking Public Revolution in ??draka’s M?cchaka?ikam Aditi Dutta and Indranil Chattopadhyay 258 20. Hinduism and Buddhism in M?cchaka?ikam Gargi Bhattacharya 271 Section IV Towards Comparative Textual Interpretations 21. Prostitution in M?cchaka?ikam Shakti Mukherji 289 22. M?cchaka?ikam and Bengali Literature: Translation, Reception and Inspiration Ritam Mukherjee 304 23. Love and Desire in Times of Revolution: A Sensuous Relishing of the Erotic in Girish Karnad’s Utsav Piyush Roy 331 24. The Gambler in the Empty Temple: M?cchaka?ikam and the Aesthetics of Ancient Indian Materialism Tamal Dasgupta 361 Contributors 393

Dr Saptarshi Mallick is an Assistant Professor for English, Sukanta Mahavidyalaya, Dhupguri, Jalpaiguri (University of North Bengal). He has been a Charles Wallace India Trust (doctoral) Fellow and an UKIERI Fellow in 2016 - 2017 in the U.K. He is an Ernst Mach Fellow 2019 - 2020 (postdoctoral) at the Karl – Franzens – Universität Graz, Austria. He has been visiting faculty in the Summer Semester of 2020 at the Karl-Franzens -Universität Graz, Austria. He is an Associate Editor of Gitanjali and Beyond, an international, open access e-journal of the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs), Edinburgh.